WP1: Peatland Through Time and Space

WP1: Peatland Through Time and Space

Objective: To establish the current and future physical capacity of land in the case study regions to contribute to net zero and prioritise areas for peatland restoration.

Co-leads: Adrian Bass and Nicki Whitehouse

Contributors: Jane Bunting, Graham Ferrier, Jens-Arne Subke, Jiren Xu, Philip Barratt, Wenguang Tang, Thomas Prentice and Kenny Roberts

Approach: Work package 1 will examine where peatland restoration should take place in the case study areas by collating historic and new data to elucidate patterns of peatland through space and time.

The team will use publicly available LiDAR data, combined with drone-deployed LiDAR surveys and borehole data, to map modern and historic peat boundaries and depths. Targeted fieldwork and new data collection will ground-truth and supplement existing data

The team will also use a temporal Multiple Scenario Approach, combined with reconstructed palaeogeography, existing pollen records and archaeological data, to quantify land use change through time. These methods will allow for the mapping and characterising of both existing peatland cover and ‘hidden’ peatlands now used for other purposes, including agriculture. These data will be used to prioritise areas for restoration for the case study regions, under different climate scenarios, that will improve per hectare carbon sequestration land use while recognising the historic environment.

The work package will ensure methods are replicable to other regions. The capacities of the land established in this work package will provide the foundation for discussions in the second work package and the baseline data for the Peatland Triage Tool.

Key outputs for this work package will include: 

• Maps and datasets of the case study regions representing depth, type, age and condition of peatland.
• Prioritisation of areas for restoration based on past land use, present land condition, historic environment sensitivity mapping and future climate change.
• A methods template for replicating these peatland maps in other regions.